The Lerner Blog

by Robin Mayhallcopyeditor for several Graphic Universe titles and author of Twisted Journeys #17 and a book in an upcoming series—titles still top secret! Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, novels or graphic novels, a lot of writers have trouble just getting started. Some struggle with actual writer’s block. Others just need a little jump […]Read more "GU Comics Day: Breaking Through"

When Lerner Publishing Group recently decided to publish books for sale in the United Kingdom (www.lernerbooks.co.uk), one of our main tasks was to “anglicize” the texts designated for that market. I immediately thought this was a poor choice of words. Consider the definition of anglicize from Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: “to adapt (a foreign word […]Read more "Lerner Books UK"

By Kellie Hultgren, production editor Following up on The Invisible Word Count, last month’s post, here’s a look at some of the challenges we face in selecting photos for Twenty-First Century Books. As reading level increases, so does the difficulty of the subject matter. TFCB publishes titles for grades six through twelve, and the images […]Read more "Hard Photo Choices: Going with Your Gut"

By Carol HinzEditorial Director, Millbrook Press Designing covers for a new series is always a challenge. One of Millbrook’s new fall series, Life in Ancient Civilizations, was especially difficult. How do you capture an entire culture on a cover? Each book’s cover needs to appeal to the target audience (grades 3-6) while also giving librarians […]Read more "The Quest for the Perfect Cover: Life in Ancient Civilizations"

By Sara HoffmannSenior Editor Every school & library publisher has its own process for coming up with series titles. At Lerner, our process tends to be very collaborative. People from many departments get into the act. The process is a little different for every series we do, but here’s how it usually goes: • The […]Read more "Titling a Series"

“What’s it going to be then, eh?” There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry. The Korova Milkbar […]Read more "Hearing voices"

posted by Carol Burrell, Editorial Director, Graphic Universe The first three books in the nine-book series The ElseWhere Chronicles were published in English by Graphic Universe early this spring. The story, created by the team of Bannister and Nykko (warning: links en français!), was originally published in French by Dupuis. Along with the expected complications […]Read more "GU Comics Day: Putting On a Good Face"

Over the years, I’ve been asked many times what I look for when I assess nonfiction writing for the TFCB imprint. My answer is pretty much always the same. Here’s my take on what makes good–and likely-to-be-published–nonfiction writing: –it grabs my attention with its personality and lively tone. Any piece of writing, whether fiction or […]Read more "What Makes Good Nonfiction?"

By Bob RaczkaAction Figures author The top ten things you may not know about Action Figures: Paintings of Fun, Daring and Adventure, straight from the author’s mouth: 10. This is the thirteenth book in my ongoing series, Bob Raczka’s Art Adventures, which is amazing to me. As you might guess, I do not consider the […]Read more "Action Figures Top Ten"